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Elevated levels of lead were found in water supplied to Norfolk homes more than 50 times last year. Most affected properties were in or near Norwich, with clusters around the Heigham, Lakenham, Mancroft, Plumstead and Postwick areas. The findings emerged following a freedom of information request to Anglian Water (AW) from this newspaper.
The company said it carried out 2,250 tests at properties across Norfolk in 2024, with 51 of them revealing more than 10 micrograms of lead per litre (μg/l). Since 2013, all drinking water is required to contain less than 10μg/l of lead, which equates to 10 parts per billion. The chemical has been linked to a range of health defects.
In children, exposure to lead can lead to lower IQ, behavioural problems and nerve damage. In adults, it may impair kidney, heart and circulatory health. WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING IN NORWICH? Tests revealed high levels of lead in water supplied to Anglian Water customers in Norfolk more than 50 times last year, the majority of them in Norwich (Image: Mike Page) Some 24 of the tests revealing high lead levels were in Lakenham, seven in Mancroft, six in Plumstead, six in Postwick and five in Heigham, along with a further three in King's Lynn.
AW said it had been carrying out a planned programme of work in areas of Norwich. "This is where we are proactively targeting streets to replace lead communication pipes," it said. "In addition to proactively replacing the communication pipes on these streets, we ran a small trial, which has now finished, offering to replace the customer-owned supply pipe to the point of entry to the property for some of the streets.
" It came after AW was threatened with an enforcement order by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) in 2023 over levels of lead in Norwich's water. The company gave an undertaking in March 2024 which included replacing 2,000 pipes in high risk areas by March 31, 2030, sampling schools and nurseries in high-risk areas and drawing up a plan to achieve lead-free drinking water. In February of this year, the DWI said it was satisfied "appropriate steps" were being taken.
WHAT DOES AW SAY? Water is lead-free when it leaves Anglian Water's Heigham Treatment Works, but can pick up traces of the metal if it travels through old pipes made from it (Image: Denise Bradley) An AW spokesman said the 2,256 samples referred to " individual water sampling events", not properties. "These samples would have been carried out for a variety of reasons - regulatory monitoring, sampling ahead of and during specific projects, and samples in response to customer lead enquiries," he said. "If we see elevated levels of lead in a sample, we would carry out further tests, so some of these will be repeat samples from the same properties.
" They said the notice from the DWI regarding lead was not enforcement action but was "standard procedure for water quality work". An extract from the notice issued by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (Image: DWI) "All water companies have these legal instruments in place to reduce lead levels," he added. AW said small amounts of lead can end up in drinking water which has travelled through lead pipes, which is most likely to occur in homes built before 1970, or those where pipes have been joined by lead solder, before its use was banned in 1987.
In a statement, the firm said: "Norwich and other areas with lots of older houses can see a higher proportion of lead pipes, which is why we’re proactively replacing lead pipes in the area, as well as running adverts in hospital and school magazines and maternity units. "If you think there’s a chance you might have lead pipes, you can reduce the risk significantly by running the tap for a couple of minutes before using it, in particular if water has stood in your pipes for a few hours or more." A briefing by the UK Health Security Agency published in December said: "Children are particularly sensitive to the effects of lead on the nervous system as their brains are still developing.
"Children exposed to lead during the first few years of life may have a lower IQ, behavioural problems or nerve damage." In adults, exposure to lead may impair kidney, heart and circulatory health. WHAT DO CITY MPs THINK? Norwich North MP Alice Macdonald (Image: Denise Bradley) Norwich North MP Alice Macdonald said: "For a long time now water companies have been failing to deliver for their customers and the environment and the public has rightly had enough.
"I believe that nationally, the problems we are facing with water companies are down to weakened regulation, a failure to invest in infrastructure and the previous government letting the water companies get away with far too much. "The Labour government has taken action to crack down on water companies by introducing the Water Bill into parliament. "This will ban bonuses for polluting water bosses, ensure they will be held to account by new customer panels and strengthen compensation for households when water services are affected.
" Norwich South MP Clive Lewis (Image: Antony Kelly) Norwich South MP Clive Lewis said: "These horror stories are depressingly familiar. "Ultimately, they're the inevitable consequence of public services like water, which answer to shareholders, not customers, and have siphoned off huge sums in dividends that should have long ago paid for vital investments in the network. "That's one of the reasons I'm campaigning in parliament for the public to be given the choice to take water back into public ownership as a not-for-profit service.
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